Check out the double D's!

[vwserphguy]

[greasedjesus]

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement out there! Had to move the old girl out to pasture for some fresh air for a few days while I tend to some more immediate issues of my daily drivers.

Here she is with my wifes projects! At least my projects don't eat all day!

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When life hands you lemons, shut up and eat your damned lemons.

[Mapwizard]

You obviously don't need any inspiration, but I thought I would post a link to the car of the month at 914world.com. Another great restoration of an extremely rough project. The finished product is awesome.

http://www.914world.com/

The results of your work will inspire others as well.

Thanks for keeping us posted.

Pieper

[Manfred58sc]

The Bus looks like its ready to haul hay to the "burners", looks kind of off road with the temporary front end! One good "whap" and that dent in the nose will pop out. Lookin' good
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Fat chick owner/operator

[greasedjesus]

Hope to get on some of those dents tomorrow after I finish the current project on the lift. More pics to some soon!
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When life hands you lemons, shut up and eat your damned lemons.

[greasedjesus]

Worked on the nose some today, and seems my camera didn't save any of the pics I took, or they disappeared when I downloaded them. Guess I'll take more tomorrow, LoL. Has anyone out there used one of those smoothing wheels? Seems like a neat idea, I am still learning the metal straightening and just wondering the easiest way to get the sheet metal as straight as possible with little or no filler. Been working on the nose all day and maybe have a small improvement, tops. Try to get some pics up of it and maybe get some suggestions for the best way to proceed.
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When life hands you lemons, shut up and eat your damned lemons.

[Manfred58sc]

I am not familiar with a smoothing wheel, please post link where this toll is sold so we can better understand it, sounds interesting. Looking forward to seeing the nose! Love this thread (OK I'm biased...)
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Fat chick owner/operator

[greasedjesus]

I guess it's actually called a "shrinking disc" http://www.wolfesmetalfabrication.com/sdisc.html
Anyone used anything like this? Supposed to be an alternative to heating the metal with a torch then hammering it to shrink it. Supposedly localizes the heat to just the high spots therefore causing less panel distortion. Seems like a good idea, just a question of whether it works. Any input would be appreciated!
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When life hands you lemons, shut up and eat your damned lemons.

[greasedjesus]

SO finally here's some pics of the work I've been doing on the nose. Not an experienced metal bumper (yet lol), but so far so good. Heres a "before pic from earlier.....

And here's a few of "after" shots.

Still got a long way to go, still a bit lumpy, especially for the lower part that I can't easily get behind. I was thinking about investing in a stud welder for dent pulling, but Manfred58sc (from area67) suggested an ingenious alternative that I might have to try out. Tack weld a deep nut to the spot in the dent you want to pull, then screw an eye bolt into the nut and use a come along to a stationary object pull it outward. I may even try same with a slide hammer. Thanks for the suggestion Manfred!
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When life hands you lemons, shut up and eat your damned lemons.

[Manfred58sc]

Very nice work there, thanks for posting the link to the tool..any sambanistas used this in body work?? seems like a good "de-lumper" for wrinkles and such. The nose is much better than I thought at first..
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Fat chick owner/operator

[greasedjesus]

Forgot to mention it earlier, but there are parts O'plenty ordered from klassic fab. Should be getting a whole new bus (almost lol)in the mail sometime in the next couple weeks. Then the real fun begins! Anyone out there put these floors and rockers etc in before that can maybe tell me things to look out for, common pitfalls to avoid, etc? Anything you figured out the hard way to help me along? Hope to be getting on this big time in the next month or so.
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When life hands you lemons, shut up and eat your damned lemons.

[Schwing]

[greasedjesus]

Ahh, also a good idea. kind of a variation on the same theme as manfred58sc posted. I could see where each would have it's use depending on the area and type of dent you are trying to remove. Thanks for the suggestion! Looks like your project needed a lot of the same work mine does!
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When life hands you lemons, shut up and eat your damned lemons.

[greasedjesus]

Wel, got nearly a whole new Bus in the mail courtesy of Klassicfab. Can't wait to unpack it all and start putting together instead of taking apart. Unfortunately, its about 10 degrees and snowing heavily since christmas. Will get some pics up as soon as I get it all unpacked and into the garage. Merry (late) Christmas everyone out there!
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When life hands you lemons, shut up and eat your damned lemons.

[Pinetops]

Awesome man, glad to hear you are keeping the build going. I'm looking forward to your progress.
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[greasedjesus]

Yeah, seems like every time I go out to work on it, The temps fall below 10 degrees (my garage isn't heated), or the engine falls out of a friends jetta, or just always something. It will get there though, I haven't forgotten her! Plus the whole pesky job thing taking up my time.....
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When life hands you lemons, shut up and eat your damned lemons.

[Manfred58sc]

Reality getting in the way of our VW fun..how annoying!!! Hey that bus waited 30 years, it's patient if nothing else. Warmer temps on the way...
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Fat chick owner/operator

[Thetrevornator]

Great work keep it up! August to December already have metal ordered!!! im sure you will have a ton of work doing in spring
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67 Panel Camper and a 64 OG ratty bug

"Life's a Journey"

http://instagram.com/dubtrevornator/

[greasedjesus]

So....
Got some more prep work done and went to test fit the rockers. Apparently I'm missing something! I have the inner and outer rockers, but apparently there's an INNER inner? DOH!

So my question to you guys is this: Can I safely install the cargo floor in without getting in the way of doing the 3 pieces of the rocker when I get the parts a bit later, OR, would it be much safer and make a better job to do inner rockers THEN the floor. As a third option, should it all go in and clamp together at the same time before welding ANYTHING in? That feels like the right answer to me, I'm just disappointed I finally had some good weather and free time coincide and now I find I need another part before I can do anything maybe?
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When life hands you lemons, shut up and eat your damned lemons.

[esde]

You really have to fit the inner rocker, outer rocker, and inner stiffener together, and there's no way to fit the stiffener after the inner and outer rocker are together. I know it sucks to have to wait for more sheet metal (I know as I'm always waiting on something) but there's no way around it. The good news is that having the floor fit and maybe ready to screw in place will help you to get the outer rockers aligned perfectly.